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Alabama faced a do-or-die spot in Baton Rouge. It didn’t flinch.
Against No. 15 LSU on the road, No. 11 Alabama took the Tigers to the woodshed, controlling the game from start to finish to earn a 42-13 victory and keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
Here are 3 takeaways from the game.
Alabama rises to the moment
There was some chatter heading into the weekend slate that a 3-loss Alabama might still be able to get into the College Football Playoff. You never want to say never, but Alabama would have needed a ton of help from around the country to crack the 12-team field with 3 losses. It needed to win Saturday night in Death Valley.
But, more than just the CFP, Kalen DeBoer needed this win.
Since beating Georgia, Alabama has flirted with disaster. It looked rough around the edges at home against South Carolina, lost both of its road trips to the state of Tennessee, and beat an awful Missouri team.
On the road in one of the toughest venues in the sport — with the elements making things more difficult — Alabama showed it can still play with anyone in the country on its best day.
Alabama smacked LSU. This was a beatdown. The score wasn’t misleading. The opponent wasn’t a patsy. Alabama outgained LSU 6.3 yards per play to 4.9 yards per play. The Crimson Tide went 10-for-13 on third down, forced 3 turnovers and turned those into 14 points, sacked Garrett Nussmeier twice and harassed him plenty, stopped the run, ran it well, and left no doubt.
That Alabama team? That Alabama team can win a Playoff game. That Alabama team might win multiple Playoff games. And, yes, we’re talking Playoff around these parts. Neither Oklahoma nor Auburn beats that Alabama team. Of course, the caveat is that Alabama has to play like that consistently down the stretch.
But this is quite the one-two. Shutout a ranked Missouri team at home, go on a bye, come out the other side, and demoralize a ranked LSU team on the road. If Alabama can use this as a springboard, watch out.
Jalen Milroe does it again
In the Georgia game, Milroe looked like the best player on a field that was essentially a who’s who of recent recruiting rankings. The best of the best, and Alabama’s mercurial quarterback looked a cut above. (Milroe finished that game with a 99.0 QBR…)
That guy had only shown up in flashes during the weeks since. He struggled heavily in the South Carolina and Tennessee games, throwing 4 interceptions and taking 7 sacks. He only needed to be average against Missouri.
Against LSU on Saturday, Milroe was that same elite, untouchable athlete.
Alabama’s starting quarterback finished 12-for-18 through the air for 109 yards. The gameplan wasn’t to punish LSU with the pass. Jam Miller was the leading pass-catcher. Ryan Williams only had 3 targets. Instead, Milroe and the Alabama ground game absolutely battered LSU’s defense.
When LSU lost to Texas A&M, Brian Kelly said after the game he would run the quarterback against the Tiger defense.
DeBoer didn’t need the invitation, but he no doubt appreciated it. Milroe had 185 rushing yards and 4 scores on 12 carries. The Tide ran for 312 yards and 6 scores as a team. And they did that with only 6 explosive run plays.
One of those was a 72-yarder from Milroe.
Seventy-two yards.
: ABC pic.twitter.com/kIfdICmlES
— Alabama Football (@AlabamaFTBL) November 10, 2024
This man is a terror. Milroe pushed his season total to 16 rushing touchdowns — the most by a quarterback in a single season in Alabama history.
Defense stuffs Nuss
LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier entered Saturday’s contest seventh nationally in passing, with at least 300 yards in 6 of his 8 appearances.
He had 55 yards and a touchdown on a meaningless drive at the end of the game, one that made the final score 42-13 instead of 42-6. Remove those throws against backups and Nussmeier would have finished with 184 yards, 2 interceptions, and no scores.
LSU couldn’t lean on the run game because it was in an early hole. Caden Durham hit a 45-yard run on his first carry of the game and had just 18 yards from then on out.
Alabama shut the Tigers down.
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
